First Franklin Financial Layoffs

Merrill Lynch said it will cut jobs at its First Franklin Financial Corp. unit, the subprime lender it acquired late last year for $1.3 billion from National City, which has seen problems ever since.

“First Franklin has been successful over 26 years because of its ability to adapt to changing market conditions,” Merrill said in a statement. “We have adjusted our staffing levels to be in line with current business requirements,” said Merrill spokesman Bill Halldin.

First Franklin had 2,800 employees at the beginning of the year, and word is the layoffs will be significant.

Although no official numbers have been released, I’ve heard that the company currently has roughly 500 AEs (loan officers), and plans to cut that number down to 150, either through layoffs or via production goal quotas.